


Twisted Wonderland - Overblot Crisis

by Stestylius



Series: Overblot Crisis [1]
Category: Twisted-Wonderland (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Asida Pridewild (oc), Cadeyrn Faysal (oc teacher at NRC), Camilla Sandford (oc), Cande, F/M, Gen, Laneila, Madji Shahzad (oc), Multi, NRC and RSA are both mixed gender schools, Nakia Dunstan (oc), Primerose Bemyguest (oc), Shaderot, Wieder Beruto, Zubé Routside (oc), more ocs to come during the story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:00:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28486485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stestylius/pseuds/Stestylius
Summary: After the first overblot incident within the Heartsybul dorm, Dire Crowley requests the help of an outsider mage posing as an exchange student. In order to proceed to the term of the school rules, they must study along with the other students while investigating for any source of dark malice on the school grounds.
Relationships: Leona Kingscholar x Nakia Dunstan, Leona Kingscholar x Primerose Bemyguest (one sided), Leona Kingscholar/Original Female Character(s), OCxCanon - Relationship, OCxOC, Zubé Routside x Asida Pridewild
Series: Overblot Crisis [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2086638
Kudos: 9





	1. Prologue - Intermagic NRC program

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the new story featuring Nakia in a new series.   
> I've come across Twisted Wonderland during the summer until they caught my attention again in October 2020.  
> Just saying, this is still an early release, bare with my writing. It's not perfect.

** Night Raven College - Headmaster’s office **

Sitting at his desk, Dire Crowley - headmaster of the Night Raven college - just finished distributing the papers to all seven dorm leaders standing in front of him.

“Gentlemen.” The heads turned towards the Headmaster. “In your hands, you have what’s left done for next week.” 

“Cut the chase.” The beastman looked at the Headmaster with an irritated look. “I have something else to do than attend this boring meeting about that  **_EVENT_ ** .” 

“Is it because he is in the room?” The short-haired blond mocked. 

“Shut it, Shoenheit.” The brunette warned. 

“Oh, please, Kingscholar. You roar more than you bite.” He added to his mockery. 

“Tch.” He added, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Enough, you two. The Headmaster gathered us here to finish the final touches we need to guide our guests for the next week.” 

“Thank you, Mr. Rosehearts.” The Headmaster sighed with relief. “As he stated, we are having the third signature event for the Intermagic NRC program.” He tapped his finger on the hardwood desk. 

The dorm leaders looked at the crow masked individuals with a little more attention, except the young albino haired one, trying to process that information. He tilted his head in confusion. 

“Inter- what?” He asked. 

Sighing in exasperation, the Pomefiore dorm leader, Vil Schoenheit, brought the attention to him, asking for the Scarabia dorm leader to look at him for a minute.

“Kalim.” The albino boy looked at Vil. “This program is meant to introduce our school program outside of Twisted Wonderland. By holding an entrance exam in the coliseum, we get to see how strong the mages are.” 

“It’s practically a tournament of power to show off.” The tablet floating on its own added. “Even with the third signature event, does it make it worth it?” He asked. 

“Of course.” The silver-haired said with a sing-song tone. The beastman groaned at his statement with a ‘here he goes again,’ with his hand to his forehead.

“This also celebrates the 10th anniversary of opening our doors to the female community. The charts don’t lie from what I’ve seen; the males have seen slight progress in their attitude. I don’t see much against their benefits.” He pushed his glasses on his nose. “It is a better opportunity to open our door to the best far off countries assets.” 

“Like if we needed any more.” The tablet muttered. 

“Sire Crowley.” 

“Yes, Mr. Draconia.” The Headmaster asked. 

“Can we have the information for our chosen dorm members you have appointed on the field? If you wouldn’t mind.” The tall young man exchanged his gaze with the beastman. “I assume we are busy after this meeting.” 

“I’m sorry. Let’s get it over with.” Crowley cleared his throat, pressing his knuckles to his chin. He opened a magic map between the two rows of the dorm leaders. “As a one-day event, I will make it quick. The winner of the entrance exam will be placed automatically in the old dorm. They will be living with our dear magicless prefect, which I forgot to invite. I did give them a better thing to do - how am I gracious.” He smiled, getting up from his chair, making it creak on the ground. 

“Mr. Shoenheit, Pomefiore is specialized in the confection of potions, which will be useful for the injuries. You will take care of the First Aid tent.” He first turned to the blonde, hmphing proud of his motive. “Mr. Al Asim, I know you have, how to put it, the positive side of what I’ve heard. Scarabia will be taking care of the contestants’ meals for the day.” 

“You can count on us, headmaster!” He smiled. “Maybe add… some music, camels and-” 

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Kalim.” Riddle scolded him with his finger up. “We don’t want to do that much work. Please continue, sir.” Crowley silently thanked the red-head. 

“Mr. Shroud, you and Ignihyde will be in charge of the event projection on the campus.” 

“It will be easy-peasy.…” He said with a small, confident voice. “We are meant for this, after all.” 

“Mr. Ashengrotto, you will be in charge of the promotion on the campus and keep the journalists in their booth. Also, make sure it doesn’t go overboard. Am I clear?.” The Headmaster pointed at him, knowing his first-year attempt to get the Monstro Lounge was a high cost for the school budget; even if they did pay from their pocket, the space needed to get to the school café was another problem. 

“You don’t have to worry about this, Headmaster. Everything calculated to the last penny.” 

“That’s what I feared,” Crowley replied. “As for the two last dorms. Disamonia and Savannaclaw, they will be on guard duty.” 

“Count me outta that.” The beastman growled. “Let Disamonia do all the work; we are not really into that guard thing.” 

“Are you refusing to help the school, Leona?” Malleus asked with a cocky tone. “As known from the second prince of Afterglow Savanna, you don’t care.” 

“What  **_PLACE_ ** do we guard.” He demanded rather than ask. Leona looked at the crowman. 

“Savannaclaw will be patrolling the coliseum while Disamonia will be at the campus’s gates.” Crowley quickly spoke. 

“Fine by me. I’d rather be alone than with that horned mess.” Leona crossed his arms over his chest again.

“Finally, Mr. Rosehearts.” 

“Yes, sir,” Riddle replied. 

“Heartsybul will be taking care of the information tent where the fighters will be staying in. Any directions given will be in your care.” 

“Of course. I will get my dorm to work as soon as possible.” The headmaster dismissed the meeting.

Kalim was enthusiastic. Azul walked beside the Scarabia dorm leader, asking what all his excitement was. Kalim couldn’t know yet, but his gut feeling told him it would be a finishing surprise. 

“I see.” Azul paused with a soft hidden smile.

“But still, why hold such a late event after the classes have started a few weeks back?” Kalim questioned. 

“It often happens when a meeting between teachers occurs to promote a better image of the campus. They want to secure the future of its students so we can beat RSA. We don’t want to take care of it while our reputation is still in the light.” Azul finished. 

“May I add we will have the best view of the next asset joining us. Individuals who are full-fledged young mages already at their peak of success and power investiture.” Vil butts in.

“Depends on which country the mages are from. I’ve heard they are the only three countries who accepted to send their mages over here.” The flying tablet was floating in-between them. 

“Both genders are acceptable,” Riddle spoke. “If it wouldn’t have been from Ashton-sensei, this wouldn’t have ever happened. This addition was his idea in his younger years before he became a teacher here, too, from what I heard.” 

The boys separated ways at the entrance while Leona and Malleus remained in the office with Crowley, still surprised to see them in each other’s presence. He tilted his head in pure confusion. 

“What do you want, Draconia?” Leona taunted. 

Malleus simply smiled. Leona frowned with a low growl. “I have a question, headmaster.” 

“Yes?” Dire Crowley looked at Malleus. 

“You said the winner would become a transfer student in the Ramshackle dorm? Why not do the tournament at the same time as the school ceremony?” 

“This would be more troublesome if we did.” Leona scratched the back of his neck, yawning. “Not only the amount of time and getting the new first years sorted and then doing this… It would be idiotic.” 

“Mr. Kingscholar is not half wrong. Also, the sorting wouldn’t work correctly with the tournament either. They are spending only a year here. A full dorm term demands to face the Mirror of Darkness. They don’t meet the requirements as much as I want them to be in the rules. We worked around the system each time. For now, I’m sorry I have things to do. I still have to call the authoritative figures of the three countries sending us their best assets. Off you go.`` He chased them out of the office, closing the door.

The doors closed in their back, the boys blinked, stunned. Malleus brushed it before teleporting away, leaving Leona all alone in the corridor. He made a sour expression.

Dire Crowley sat back at his desk. He sighed with relief before bringing a small pocket mirror, installing it in front of himself. He composed himself before swiping his finger in the air with a short incantation. 

_ “Mirror, Mirror of Mist call, open the long path of communication... “  _

The mirror rippled like a pond, showing a sleeping form in front of him. He apologized for the late call. “My apologies, Princess Hjordis. May we have the talk according to your submission.” 

“Of course, please. Call me, Hjordis.” The young blonde fairy woman replied. “We shall.” 

“I hope this goes according to plan.” He started. “Alright, then. I still have to call the others after.” 

* * *

According to Dire Crowley’s plan, the birdman called the magicless prefect and the monster, Grimm into his office two after the dorm leader’s meeting and his call. He congratulates them for the hard work they have put through for the dorm to look a little more presentable for the future winner who will be living with them for the rest of the year. 

“As requested, my henchman and I finished the cleaning for a room. Now, where’s the reward?!” The little grey cat-like monster demanded rather harshly. “I won’t fall for your tricks again!” 

“Come on, Grim, this is not that bad. It was only one room.” The prefect said with a small smile on his features. 

“I’m quite pleased with the cleaning you two vigorously put through. The reward will be you two taking care of the newspapers club for the campus. We need a good photograph to be on the first line to see the upcoming event’s fight. I also refrain Grim from doing anything reckless. This is our only chance to have a new student from outside this sector.” 

“I don’t wanna look at people fighting! I want to do something physical! Interact with the crowd!” Grim protested. 

“Well, you can still help the Heartsybul with the ticket booth,” Crowley added. “I heard Mr. Diamond would be giving some tarts to free.” 

“I’M IN!!” The monster danced, overjoyed by the thought of food. 

“ _ He got him by the stomach again _ .” The perfect thought. “Headmaster.” Crowley turned around to meet the young student behind him. “Have you got any news for a way back home?” 

“I’ve been busy with this event, even in-between minutes, seem fruitless. Don’t worry, young one; I will surely find something about it soon enough. Sorry, lads, but you need to leave. So much to do!” He encouraged. 

* * *

  
  


“Prefect!” The young dorm leader turned around with Grim on his shoulder when they left Dire Crowley’s office, closing the door.

“Ace! Deuce!” They greeted them with a small smile while they slowed beside the duo with their arms full of trinkets. 

“Sorry about the last two days. Riddle put us into the tents building around the coliseum. We are taking care of that construction monstrosity for only a one-day event.” Ace sighed, taking a break by a corridor bench. 

“You sure look busy,” Grim added. “At least you didn’t have to get a room ready.” 

“I’d rather gladly do that than building something.” Ace drawled. 

“It’s fun to build,” Deuce said unphased. 

“Say the one with the magic hands.” Carter popped with his phone. “Deuce-kun truly has the work into the body, if you know what I mean.” 

“Carter-senpai.” The prefect greeted me too. “Do you know anything about this event? The headmaster hasn’t put us in touch with the details.” 

“Sure do!” He made his signature pose with his peace fingers, fishing out his phone. “From all I know, they come from three countries outside Twisted Wonderland. Each of them has two representatives. If one goes down, they have the other goes in.” 

“It works out as a small tournament.” Ace pointed out. “It could happen two same country representatives may have to fight for the same spot.” He explained with the tournament tree branch example.

“Sounds hardcore,” Deuce said as he looked at the screen, scrolling down to each team composed of females and males alike. Carter closed his phone, catching the trio by surprise. 

“Alright, you two, let’s get going. We have to build the info booth on the main street. Unless you want Riddle to get, you collared.” The two first years gulped. “It was nice to see you two, Prefect, Grim. See you at the event.” 

A-Deuce apologized for the short conversation they were able to do. The prefect waved at them while they got pulled in the other direction; Grim was a bit more demanding than usual. 

* * *

**One week later - Event - Coliseum**

The stadium shook into an uproar with the campus students inside witnessing the fighting ranking going on, the semi-finals had already rolled in at the main door where the Heartsybul students were taking their break, enjoying the projection of the fight going on inside the coliseum. Ignihyde had taken their task seriously and provided all the details.

“Deuce, look at those two.” Ace nudged his Deuce with his elbow, capturing his water bottle. “The red-head is fast to put that female into her place. I have to admit; it’s impressive.” 

As spoken, the Demelvian girl avoided the palm from the other one, preventing a pulse point from being paralyzed. Her leg threw up for a high dropkick to dodge in time with a backflip. 

“If they keep doing this, they will never get to the last round,” Deuce added. He stole the tablet. “I understand they have to show off their abilities towards Dire Crowley and the teachers, but…. going this wild?” 

“At least, they are fair.” Ace took back the tablet, swiping the screen while looking at the hot topics taking on Magicam about the two females fighting. “Demelvia huh, never heard of it.” He slurped his juice. 

“Deuce, Ace. Time to round up. The fight is about to end.” Trey called from the door. “Show them the way to the meal and get patched up.” The boys agreed. 

“Let’s go meet them then.” A colossal explosion made them jump when they saw the dust cloud coming out of the fighter’s entrance. The gust of wind made them shield their face from any projectile. “Okay. Nevermind. I’m not getting in.” 

“ _ THAT WHAT CALLS THE MATCH EXPLOSIVE ENDING _ !” The announcer yelled into the mic. “Time for a short break, and we will get to the finals!!!” 

“Heartsybul?” A feminine voice called. They approved their dorm position. “I think she might need some rest.” It was the same red-head dragging the poor pale girl, knocked out by a bump in the head. 

**_SOME REST, YOU BET!? THIS GIRL IS A MONSTER!_ ** The two Heartsybul dorm students gasped at the sight. 

“Which way is the Scarabia tent?” The two pointed the northern path absently. 

Leona let out a yawn while he strolled between the booths aligned near the stadium. Even if he was on guard duty, he had the time to skip his round, making Ruggie go after him. Some travellers from the three chosen duos were also there. The beastman noticed the increasing crowd, making him a little more irritated. He took another alley only to come to a halt.

Leona’s eyes switched quickly to look away from the starting point until a scent of magic caught his attention. The world slowed as the same red-head the two 1st years met outside the stadium passed next to him. He didn’t have the time to get the appearance yet; he lost them out of sight. Gray, faint blue and red-head. That’s all he would remember for a second. 

“Leona! Over here.” Ruggie called on the side in between the booths. “We need to get back while the crowd has left, the finals will be starting soon.” 

“Shut up, Ruggie.” Leona paced towards him. Ruggie looked in the same direction Leona was looking before. He shrugged it off. “I just want this to end so I can go to sleep.” 

“I did take the calmer spot of the coliseum, for that matter.” He sighed. “You should be grateful. The others are at the entrances and seats, scaring the students to stay put. Unlike Disamonia, they are directing them straight to the stadium without a map.” 

“Don’t care.” Leona replied. He dragged himself to their entranceway. “Sooner it ends, sooner we leave.” 

“Ahh… Leona.” Ruggie sighed, going after him. 

* * *

  
  


** Side-street - Scarabia lunch tent **

“Good luck in the last round!” The scarabia student wished the young magior off after taking her plate off. “What’s your name, by the way?” 

“Oh, Nakia. Nakia from Demelvia.” She smiled. 

“You packed a punch on the semi-finals! That was intense.” He fanboyed over her. “I wish I could use so much like that.” Nakia giggled at his optimism. 

“Believe in yourself, and you will.” She got up. “Thank you for the meal!” 

“Thank you for your business with Scarabia!” They all said in chorus. Nakia smiled in return before leaving for the last round. 

“Wai- Where did she go? Did she leave already?!” Kalim suddenly popped out in the tent. 

“She already left, dorm leader. Sorry.” Another female student said. 

“Oh, drats.” Kalim pouted. 

“Kalim.” A pony tailed black haired male called him. “We are done here. Let’s go to the stadium. Dorm leaders and vice dorm are allowed to watch the last round.” 

“Jamil! You are saving the best for the last!!” He hugged his friend. He groaned before they left. 

  
  
  


Heartsybul, Disamonia, Savannaclaw, Pomefiore, Octavanelle and Scarabia were physically present to the last round to see the two top-rank winners’ final clash. The stadium started to uproar as the announcer welcomed the previous two participants. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a twisted scenario! The two fighters of Demelvia will be fighting for the final spot to let them attend our campus! I welcome the rough house knight fighter from the south of Demelvia in the East Gate! And finally, one of Demelvia’s capital magior knight fighter! Let’s roll the drums!” 

The students assisting the last round were over their minds when they saw the two mages entering the rink. The announcer took the paper of his hand and leaned over the rail. 

“One last time, introducing a martial art expert from the South of Demelvia, would he be enough to defeat the knight of Demelvia’s capital itself! In the other corner, known as Golderine across her home, using the support of her element spirits as magic, Nakia Dunstannn and Laneila!” 

Strolling next to Nakia was Laneila outside his weapon form; some students already started to whisper about the whole ordeal. The prefect had taken a bunch of photos already from all the previous fights. Now it was the final tour. They were expecting a much bigger rougher side of the latter.

“Whoa! That’s the same chick from the last round!” A Disamonia student cooed. “It is allowed to fight the same representative of the same country?” 

“Nothing says about it in the rules of the last signature events.” A Scarabia student added, sitting next to them. 

“Finally, just in time for the last round!” Ruggie cheered. 

“Laneila, ya know the drill,” Nakia said. 

“Yes, master.” He smirked. The elf instantly took a defensive stance while the other’s body became light to become a sword, glittering into the sunlight. 

“Dunstan is that you have?!” The elf taunted. “We all know your spirits are only a fragment of your magic, and you can’t depend on them anymore-  **HOLY CRAP** !” 

“HARD ICE!” Raw ice came off of the ground as she swung through the air. “My spirits are bound to me after I asked them for their help. Unlike you, I have fate in them who ran off to get another spot in the South. A link between the mage and its spirits is the top priority.” Her heels dug into the soft ground, unbuckling her topcoat, she threw it on the side, earning a few whistles from the crowd. Boys, you know. “I’ve done way more to pass through what I’ve been, and you will see the fruit of this effort.”

“Ruggie, what are you gawking at? It’s only a fight…” The rumble of the ground cut his words mid-sentence as his ears twitched. He was looking at the two mages exchanging and parrying blows. He approached the railing, looking down at the arena. 

The raw blows, parring, and force showed they weren’t messing around the bush. He put his weight on his arms as he looked at the two forms fighting like their lives depended on it. The elf male wasn’t missing an opportunity to get back at her.

“Ruggie.” The hyena turned his head towards his dorm leader. “Which team are they from?” 

“Oh.” Ruggie returned his gaze on the two demelvian exchanging blows at fast speed. He looked through his phone with the ranking tree.“Outside of the three countries, it’s Demelvia.” He tapped on the map and quick summary. “I read their magic flow is so fluid they do not even know if you were born without it.”

He observed them pausing as if they exchanged words to each other. The Demelvian man was pissed from being drenched over by a water spell. Ruggie’s ears twitched when he felt the wind change suddenly. 

“Their magic tools are made for magic exclusively. They are not as tech as we are here.” Nakia threw her sword into the air as she sprinted towards the male casting his spell. 

“That’s it! I will wipe that cocky smile right off your face! Your assistant is done for too, Dunstan!” --

“Out of the two fightings in front of us-” Ruggie continued. 

**_One drop…_ **

“The girl is the best asset the princesses have trained.” 

**_One Spark…_ **

“ _ A chant? _ ” Leona realized. The other elf was only laughing his ass off when he saw stop in the middle of the arena, the weather dramatically changing, black thunder strike dropping with a loud boom. The students from all dorms panicked as they held their seats. 

“Ne, ne, Jamil? Don’t you think she looks like she is dancing?” Kalim looked down at the arena with his two hands supporting his head.

“By the looks of it, the fight will come to an end sooner or later.” With his arms crossed over his chest, Jamil simply observed as the chant continued. 

**_A gust of wind, a tribute to the dark spirits…_ **

“Magnifique!” Rook posed as he looked at the female continuing her chant. “The pose, the movement. Très bien!” 

“This girl knows how to corner her opponent, I must say… it’s well done, but her beauty has chattered the moment she took off that coat.” Vil commented. He turned around. “Let’s get going, Rook.” 

“Of course, my Roi de Poison.” He mused.

“ **_Spirits of element bound to me, respond to my call._ ** ” The wind grew bigger. “ **_Laneila, Cande, Shaderot._ ** ” 

“Malleus, what do you think?” Lilia smirked as he looked down on the arena, “Isn’t it interesting how much raw magic outside Twisted Wonderland is different?” 

“Hm,” Malleus observed as he saw the flow of magic going around. “I have a feeling this is not the last time we will meet her. She has won.”

“Ah?” Lilia asked, checking the rink with a surprised look as the thunder was rumbling above their head.

“That’s the end!” The Demelvian mage called. 

“No, that’s yours,” Nakia called back with a quick step, jumping a bit up. The thunder stroke right on the place she had been aiming. “ **_CHARN RAD’_ ** !” The demelvian boy screamed out of shock, falling on his back the moment the fight finally ended.

The stadium grew silent as they never expected such a big strike like the previous round. All the dorms suddenly roared in excitement from the end of the fight. Ruggie sighed with relief, seeing the other fighter was still alive despite being toasted to the bone. He turned towards the Savannaclaw dorm leader, tugging his arm. “Leona, we need to regroup with the others.” 

Leona let out a loud growl, annoyed. Nakia was taking her breath back. Her hearing range was enough to hear that growl, meeting a gaze with the beastman. His suspicion had been correct. She was the human he crossed in the booth alley. How come a human not having a wand-like he did would manifest so much energy in such a short amount of time.

He and Ruggie dismissed the Savannaclaw students around to be sure the stadium would be empty. Pomefiore had left first, followed by the others. Kalim was a bit hesitant to go, but Jamil had taken him back. They were only leaving the Octavanelle trio in their sitting corner. Azul was satisfied with the show and required anything related to the winner.

“Tricky but well thought to use three elements to create a thunderstorm.” The Scarabia vice dorm leader thought. He looked at the young woman being scolded by another male, bringing out the ice magic he had seen earlier. 

“OH, NO! NOT THE ICE!” She screamed. 

“Oh, Master, you are gonna chill for a bit!”

“NO...NO!” Jamil stopped by to have a look and saw the ice ready. The scream broke his hearing. The Scarabia vice dorm put his hood on his head before leaving for good. 

* * *

**_The next morning, first period, second floor, near the 3-A classroom._ **

Leona had been listening to the classroom teacher barely. His attention wasn’t on entirely as he freshly remembered the fight of the arena. He was still not taking how much power that herbivore was possessing. His ears twitched, his tail flicked on the ground, his nose sniffed the air. His eyes fell on the said woman, passing running before its door. It was unusual. He waited a minute to see what the teacher was up to before leaving class like nothing it was, putting his hands into his pockets.

**A few minutes back - Teacher’s room.**

_ “Cadeyrn. This is Mrs. Dunstan. Our new exchange student for the rolling year.” Crowley introduced her with his hand on her shoulder as she bowed her head forward in a formal manner. The said teacher eyed the girl one second before looking at the headmaster. _

_ “She can attend the next period for her first class. As for now, you are free to explore this floor. I will send someone to collect you when the time comes.” Mr. Faysal said with a low tone. “Gather anything you need for your belongings. I will see you later.” He nodded to the Headmaster and left.  _

_ “Mrs. Dunstan.” Crowley stopped her with his hand still on her shoulder. “Remember, take any possible moment to keep an eye out. Report to me as soon as you can.” He said with a severe tone before switching to a somewhat optimistic one. “Also, remember! No special ability is allowed without any permission of mine. How am I gracious.” He quickly skipped to the door. “That also goes for the use of your spirits. If you use them once, they won’t get out with their stone sealed with the bracelet enchantment. Am I clear?”  _

_ Nakia took a look at the three gems on her bracelet. A limit of how long, though? She nodded. Crowley eye smiled and took his leave. _

The Demelvian checked the second floor for any sign of magic close to a dark magic matter. Empty classrooms, lobbies or even toilets. Nothing. She had interrogated her spirits for any information they had from the first incident. The three magic stones clang together when Nakia’s instincts kick in. She turned around to be startled by Leona’s questioning voice.

“What does the exchange student doing putting her nose everywhere?” Leona asked. “Aren’t you supposed to fetch your books like your teach’ asked?” He smirked. 

_ Oh, that smug-looking guy.  _

“I had the permission to do it” Nakia shrugged it off, which was a part of the truth. “Getting to know the surroundings around the school, you know.” She closed one eye before looking at him again. 

“I can show your way back if you tell me your true motive in this school.” Nakia twitched. She crossed her arms before Leona stepped where she stood, towering her easily. “What’s wrong, lion caught your tongue?” 

“I am a part of the Intermagic NRC program, am I not? Wouldn’t make it clear I am here to study along with my fellow future classmates.” She stepped on the side.

“Not enough.” He chuckled, putting his hand on the wall, blocking the way out on her right. She frowned as she looked at his gloved hand. 

“Nakia-san!” Leona looked at a pinkette coming their way. He tch’ed as he looked at the other female snatching his prey. Nakia nearly tripped, walking the wrong way. “Time for class.” Nakia paused the woman once before looking at the taller brunette.

“By the way, I didn’t need your help since I had someone already assigned to me.” She smiled before walking away, following the other girl. Leona stood there, blinking, processing the words. Oh, this is a good game start for a new year. He narrowed his eyes at their retreating forms.

* * *

“Nakia.” Nakia hummed towards her thoughts where her spirits had gathered around her in a ghostly form. The demelvian looked at Laneila with a neutral expression, which suddenly fell. 

Laneila’s ears flipped a little before he caught Nakia’s attention in her thoughts. The two other spirits tried to knock him off before the male blushed so hard, remembering how close and handsome the beastman was. 

**_“OH MY GOD, HE IS HOT.”_ ** Nakia and Laneila lost their mental composure, their face steaming of embarrassment, unknown to the new stranger with long pink hair.


	2. Chapter 1: Unexpected problem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nakia's first day in Night Raven College comes with its load of problems. Running away from Leona, check. Meeting Jamil, check. Meeting the Heartslybul dorm leader, Bingo!

“Dunstan-san?” 

_ What am I thinking? Why now? That’s not the timing, _

**“Dunstan-san??”**

Nakia shook her head instantly to avoid any wrong thought from popping. Thanks to Laneila being the little teaser she knew, it wouldn’t be adequate. The poor elf became dizzy from the constant shaking of the bracelet. They caught off connection for a short period. 

The pinkette, who granted Nakia’s safe exit from the beastman, looked at her with a concerned expression. She let go of her wrist to take a better look at the Demelvian girl’s facial features, which replied quickly to her question. 

“Sorry, I was lost in thought.” She frantically waved her hands to show she was present mentally and physically, some finger tricks to make the other student buy her lie. The female smiled, putting a hand over her voluptuous chest, letting out a sigh of relief. 

“I’m glad. You almost got eaten back there, you know.” She said with a devilish smile. “That dude you met is kinda, meh, especially a creep.” She waved her hand in emphasis. A roar came down the adjacent corridor. 

“Shut up, herbivore! You better go before I make you eat the words you just said.” Leona growled based on her comment she just made. On the other hand, Nakia cursed under her breath for those two being a hassle ruining her timing to explore. Leona looked the way they left, hearing their footsteps fading away.

He looked at her space again, where she once stood. He freshly remembered her frowning face with no fear in her eyes. He smirked, putting a hand in his hair. That fearless expression made him remember how brave the women in his country were, only to make him seek more about her. He slowly blinked to come back on a realization - was he becoming like Rook Hunt, that idiot stalking him too often. His ears twitched in irritation; he had to go back in class - or maybe he could just skip and have his head cleared with better thou, gets in the botanical garden. He only had another course in the after morning, being P.E. Ruggie will be seeking him anyway.

  
  


Coming close to the 2-C classroom, the girls spoke to each other for a better acquaintance.

“Gee, he is such a hassle. Anyways, Mr. Faysal asked me to take care of you. I’m Camilla Sandford, 2nd year, Scarabia dorm. And you?” 

“You already know my last name.” Nakia smiled with a small laugh. “Nakia V. Dunstan, 2nd year, I guess, Demelvia. I am residing with the Ramshackle prefect and the little monster.” 

“You are the chick who won the entrance exam. I know. Our dorm leader didn’t stop talking about your finishing move.” Camilla jokes. “He is passionate at heart.” 

“Are you the representative of the class?” Nakia asked. 

“Yup. It would technically be the 3rd year, but no one seems to want the Introducingmotioned the girl to headteacher the hallway. “What's more simple: Introducing the rules, functions, all that garbage.” 

‘You sure are not that passionate.’ Nakia commented to herself. 

  
  


Just before the class started, Faysal met Nakia aside to judge her magic knowledge. Despite being the class 2-C, he still needed information to transfer towards his colleagues Crewell and Trein. So far, he acknowledged her level of experience about his class and Crewell’s. He redirected her to Camilla to make a quick trip to the leading shop later to gather her book for the rest of the semester. Even if the school year had already begun, it was not enough for them to be left behind. 

Faysal discussed the last details about the primary education she had during her youth. Nakia explained the princesses of Demelvia were the main focal point of her education before she continued to the Knight Academy in the same city. 

“Is that so,” Faysal commented, writing down one or two lines on his papers. 

“Writing, reading… Mathematics, languages, old folklore, old language, beast management listing… The basics of a mage should know.” Nakia lastly added. 

“It will be all. You can take your place beside Mr. Viper for now. I will decide on a better sitting desk tomorrow.” Nakia nodded upon his request. 

The black-haired heard his last name, raised his hand, waving towards Nakia to come closer. 

“Nakia Dunstan-san, huh?” Jamil said with a small smile, “Welcome.” 

“Nakia is enough; I genuinely hate honorifics.” She shyly laughed. “Thank you for supervising me…”

“Jamil.” He replied.

“Right, Jamil.” She nodded, testing his name. “Thanks.” She took a moment to sit near, not too close, so that she could follow easily. Nakia noticed his armband. “You are in the same dorm as Camilla?” She asked. The black-haired nodded. He wasn’t much of a man of word. She understood his position. She pulled a pen out of her small pouch on her belt. 

Faysal called the attention of the class. Time to begin the lesson on each different type of curses on each other levels of casting. The historicity about the curses across Twisted Wonderland was different from what she had learned. It outdated her brain process. Nakia’s eyes darted between the blackboard and the book. She didn’t expect this much level of knowledge thrown at her on the very first day. 

**What a pain.**

‘Are you sure she will be alright?’ Shaderot asked, standing above the class, floating in a ghostly body. 

‘Nakia-nee-san will be.’ Cande replied casually. Both female demons looked on the side, checking the poor elf trying not to pry into Nakia’s head. His taste gave a real problem to not letting his interest in the second male she just met. 

‘Laneila-nii-san.’ Cande touched his shoulder. He yelped, making Nakia jolt, dropping her pen onto the ground. Her two hands on her earlobes shielding them from the scream. It was one of the several downsides of Laneila’s assets - his cry when he got startled - it would just catch her off guard and make her half deaf for a solid ten seconds. 

“Nakia-san?” Jamil looked at her, a bit taken aback. “Are you alright?”

“A little ear problem.” Nakia shook her head to put her mindset right. “I heard something out of this world.” She looked at the ceiling before dropping her gaze on the paper. She took her pen from the ground before resuming the writing.  _ Laneila was in trouble _ .

_ It would be a long period of adaptation _ , she told herself. 

The first bell rang. She thanked Jamil for the share of his books. He displayed a small smile and left the room, stopping at the door before glancing and then going for good. Nakia sighed, getting up from her seat, accidentally bumping into a classmate. Her heart stopped a minute when she saw a pair of lion ears. 

‘ _ Oh, no _ .' She cursed, only to notice it wasn’t the same guy. The short-haired brunette growled a small remark before giving her a good look. 

Their gaze met; he felt silent. “I’m sorry for bumping into you, miss Transfer-student.” He said before leaving. Nakia’s brain processed his apology quickly. It was pure sarcasm, oh, god. He asked for it.

“Well, I’m sorry for you as well, attitude-wise. You should know how to treat a girl.” She replied with the same tone of sarcasm he previously used. He stopped walking. 

“You are just lucky to be here.” He resumed his walk.

“At least I won fair and square if you want to know.” She crossed her arms. The beastman stopped once more before drinking her full appearance view. Nakia’s expression said all with her small smile and frowning eyes. He scoffed and left the room. 

“You bark more than you bite.” He replied.

Camilla quickly scrambled towards her with a small panicked expression, shaking the young adult off her seat. 

“Dunstan-san! Are you nuts?! Don’t provoke a lion! Even a second one called Zubé Routside, geez!” She said with a sigh before looking at the poor mage dizzy from the constant shaking. She shook her head to come back to reality. She pushed away Camilla. 

“I’m used to this kind of attitude. Better respond with the same type of provocation, right?” Nakia simply replied, shrugging her shoulders. “Being a knight has its downsides. You have enemies to deal with. Sarcasm is the easiest weapon, I guess. Especially to shut their trap.”

Camilla looked at the demelvian with sparkling in her eyes. Nakia felt slightly uncomfortable. “My dear Dunstan-san, from on out, our friendship is now sealed. I like your snarky attitude, your looks, and I can read you are too good to reply with the deadliest words.” Camilla said with a fake dramatic tone. “I, Camilla Sandford, will be by your side to guide for the whole year.” 

“Whoa whoa whoa!” Nakia said, pushing her off. “First, better start from square one. Personal space, please, and we will see how it goes. I would be happy to talk things out.” She said with a nervous laugh. “Now that I think about it, can you show me on the map where the shop is for the books?” 

Camilla obliged. She gave an easy shortcut right outside the garden. Nakia thanked the pinkette before waving off. 

* * *

  
  


“Sam’s shop…” Nakia tested while walking down the hallway with the small piece of paper in hand. “That shortcut isn’t easy to find...thank you, Camilla.” She deadpanned. 

“Dunstan-san.” Nakia perked up at the call of her last name before turning around and look at a trio walking towards her. “I confirm that you are then.” The smaller male smiled at his confirmation. 

“May I help you?” The female asked. 

“I am the dorm leader of Heartslybul. Riddle Rosehearts. Here are Trey Clover and Cater Diamond, seniors of the same dorm as mine. We came to welcome you to Night Raven College and also congrats you on the marvellous win you pulled in the finals.” 

Nakia brushed her strand of hair behind her ear. She blushed slightly, knowing her compliment complex didn’t help. She, again, shyly laughed. 

“That’s why Riddle had meant to ask you to come to our dorm for a small tea party,” Trey added, placing his glasses better.

**_Jackpot_ ** . Nakia thought. 

“I would be glad to come.” Nakia smiled with a small laugh again. “What a lucky day.” 

The three boys suddenly chuckled at her pun she didn’t intend. She didn’t notice. 

“Why not come to lunch on the break? It will be easier to discuss the directions.” Riddle mentioned. “You are welcome to join our table.” 

“May I call you Na-chan?” Cater asked, pulling out his phone. Nakia irked at the memory of the nickname. She forced a smile. 

“Can we leave it at my name…?” Nakia asked. Cater’s eyes lit up instantly. 

“Why not commemorate your arrival on Magicam!?” He declared.

“Magi-what now?” Nakia looked at his cellphone before seeing a flash. Her eyes shut with a small grimace. Cater looked at the photo, pouting. 

“Nakia-chan. You could’ve at least smiled. I said Magicam. It's the biggest trend in Twisted Wonderland.” He said with an easy-going attitude. 

“I’m sorry… I don’t know what it is, either. Those ‘social media’ are not a thing where I live.” Cater’s expression was priceless. He looked at her with a surprised look. 

“Care to repeat that?” Trey asked, a bit intrigued. 

“We don’t have the tech, but we use magic tools as technology.” She looked into her pouch, pulling out what looked like her own cell phone. The case was solid with a translucent stone. She pressed a few buttons. “It’s called a Compacted Lacrima.” 

“Oh, magic stone used as a communication device, huh?” Riddle leaned in to have a look. Nakia nodded. 

“The device is from Fiore, another country not so far from mine. A guild member of one of the most well-known groups of mages is the creator (1) . Most of the magical tech is based on lacrima stones.” She enumerated about the projection, theatre and phones like these. “As I am rather limited to this phone, I am not a tech person.” 

Trey chuckled along with Riddle. 

“There’s no bad thing; some people like it or not.” He said with a smile. He looked at the clock. “That said, Riddle, you have an appointment before class, do you not?” 

Riddle hummed in response. Trey shook the poor influencer out of his thoughts. “Don’t worry about Cater, Nakia-san. He will come back to his senses soon. After all, he can be quite funny on that side.” 

“Ne, Trey-kun…” Cater whined.

“Sorry, Cater, we need to go.” Trey stopped him before he could say anything else. 

“Can someone show me the way to Sam’s Mystery shop?” Nakia asked before they turned around. Cater brightened up but got blocked by Riddle’s supervision. 

“Down this hallway, next stairway, down the third door - on your right.” 

“Thank you, Riddle.” The face of the dorm leader flared up slightly at Nakia’s smile. 

“It’s my job as one of your school mates….” He casually waved off. “Let’s go, you two.” 

Nakia waved to the boys. She went on Riddle’s instructions and finally felt before the small shop on the school grounds. The girl had to be quick, the next class was starting soon. P.E. was always something she looked forward to.

“Welcome to Sam’s Mystery Shop, young lady!” Sam greeted. The door closed behind her.

* * *

  
  


A whistling sound blew throughout the green field. All students taking the current PE class started to gather their equipment to set on the bleachers, called the grass. Some males were eyeing the 2nd year’s female type getting ready with some stretching exercises. Nakia sweatdropped. 

“Boys…” She whispered with a sigh. She was paired once more with Camilla for the period. Stretching wasn’t a hassle for her because of her morning routines in the knight academy. On another occasion when her training with Laneila came into play. Her cheeks became suddenly red at the thought, making her grip on Camilla’s hand lose. She tumbled back against the ground with an oof. 

Laying on her back, she noticed one of her classmates walking towards the previous group. She rolled around to have a better view, only to have her face change into a gasp. The young girl talked with the same beastman she had encountered at the beginning of the day - Leona Kingscholar. He was talking with no much interest before she bowed and gave him a small package. He took it nonetheless. 

The PE teacher, Ashton Vargas, called the 2nd year female group on the field. Nakia got up, losing the focus on Leona for a second. Grabbing the broom Camilla extended to her, their group passed near the male. Leona gives a playful growl towards Nakia making her stop, upon reflex to turn around and make a middle finger, which Camilla pulled her off before she managed to do it. 

“Chill,” Camilla warned. 

“He started it!” She whispered yelled. 

“Alright, ladies,” Ashton called. “Get in line. Let me see what you’ve learned.” 

Nakia observed all the girls getting on the brooms just fine. Not only flight class was a first, but also the broomstick into the crotch was uncomfortable. Ashton called her from the other side of the field. 

“Dunstan, remember. Even if this is your first, make at least an effort. Play nice, will you?” Nakia’s face irked a bit before she went back, forcing a smile. God, this guy reminded her of her former headmaster.

Putting the broom between her legs, her two hands firmly on the hilt, she sighed before taking off slowly. A bit unstable at first, she took a breath or two before lifting off. Shaderot’s magic was a part of the immediate plan to help her stabilize. She flew around a bit before joining Camilla and the young girl of before, called Primerose. 

“Good looking, Nakia!” Camilla called. “A bit hard on the lady’s part, but you get used to it. Imagine for the boys.” Nakia couldn’t agree more. She sighed. Primerose nodded her head to acknowledge Nakia’s presence. 

About half an hour later, Vargas called back everyone on the ground. He whistled after the males’ class to join as well. 

“Finishing the class, we will be playing a short period of Magift. Make four teams of seven and go around the field. Cones will be the main focus for the goals.” The teacher instructed. 

Nakia had heard of this during her mission briefing in Demelvia. Magift was a good source of magic use and a good exercise for everyone alike. Nakia’s team was composed of four boys and three girls, including herself. 

“Prime-chan!” Camilla called the red wine haired girl on her right. “Defense for the first line. Nakia-chan too.” The boys behind them agreed on their base. “Take the broom to protect them from any attackers.” Camilla handed the broom to Nakia. She finally saw an opportunity to test out her reduced magic for a good thing. 

Even if it meant to be watched by many other students sitting on the ground, she had to do it. No matter what.

  
  
  


The game was already halfway through. The two teams were in a tie. Vargas called the last round for the period. The four teams changed their strategy for a better set up. Camilla and Primerose had been on the attacker position while Nakia remained on the defence. 

Camilla made an opening by deflecting a magic spell across the field towards the opposing team. Nakia took the disk with a power flying source. Summoning Shaderot’s wind power, her arm swung the disk across the game field only to be stopped by the same lion brunette from her classroom. He gave her a smirk. 

“Dang, it Zubé-kun!” Camilla yelled. “You are such a jerk!” She pointed furiously at the beastman. 

“Weren’t you the one who told me not to provoke lions?” Nakia jokes. Camilla only gave her a pout. The competition was rough. Few exchanges between the two teams became more dangerous, the pride was incredible. Another guy tried to send the disk way too close to Nakia’s face. 

“Watch it!” Nakia warned with a yell. The guy only shrugged off. Another guy deflected the disk towards the other game on the opposite side of the field. Nakia’s senses kicked in to fly after it.

“Leona-san, look. What a dedicated girl she is.” Ruggie commented with a small snicker behind his folded fingers. He stopped once he saw what just happened. 

“ **JAMIL-** ” A white-haired male called before seeing the disk coming to hit the black-haired male standing by his side.

“Shaderot!” Nakia called, with her two feet against the broom’s base, her arms perpendicular to the wood. The gust of wind knocked many students off their feet. The magic was quickly decreasing from the sudden energy unleash. The disk flew upward high in the air.

_ Every time you will be using one of your spirits, their magic will be decreasing with the amount you have used. They will go in a dormant state until you regain your energy once again.  _

Crowley’s voice ran into Nakia’s head as a reminder of her power management. She had forgotten the disk she had sent up high until she felt a pressure then, a stinging pain, her fingers came loose off the broom handle, making her fall on her back on the flight field. She held her hand against her chest. The magift disk had hit her fingers full force, breaking the three main in the middle.

Camilla came quickly with the teacher and a few other students. “Nakia-chan!” She called. “Are you alright?!” 

“Dunstan-san..” Primerose looked at Nakia while she was fighting off the stinging pain. “Let’s go to the infirmary. I am responsible for any emergencies on the campus.” 

The girls helped her up. Vargas stopped them before they could leave. “Dunstan, this was a dangerous situation. You did a good job protecting Mr.Viper from the hit, and what a breeze. You may go and meet with your headteacher. Bemyguest, Sandford.” 

“Hai, sir,” They both said. Nakia looked at Jamil standing next to the same white-haired male. They looked towards them. Nakia didn’t see Leona on the field anymore. Thank god he left—what a mental relief. 

* * *

  
  


“Dunstan-san…” Riddle’s eye twitched at sight, his face visibly red from anger, as much as his hair colour. “What happened.” He started by pointing her arm in a cast.

“Long story short. A magift disk broke three fingers.” Nakia nervously laughed. “It’s nothing.” 

“Nothing…  **NOTHING** ?!” Riddle nearly yelled, only to be calmed down by Trey, thank god. 

“Dunstan-san. I hope you are doing okay.” Trey took the words lightly, sitting at the table on the opposite side. “Riddle, you wanted to discuss how the hall of Mirrors works, no?” 

Riddle had composed himself once again to take a good look at the young woman sitting before him with a few bandages around the right forearm with a piece of cloth holding it in place.  _ Great seven have mercy on them _ , Riddle thought. He cleared his throat. 

“The Hall of Mirrors connects all the dorms of Night Raven College. Besides, yours is a little more in the back of the campus. Heartslybul, Savannaclaw, Octavanelle, Scarabia, Pomefiore, Ignyhide and Disamonia have their respective mirrors. Pass through it, and you are on each dorm territory.” Nakia nodded at his explanation. 

“However.” He precise. “On rule number 347 of the Queen of Hearts: One must invite to be initiated to the Night Raven College rules. Is it clear?” He added with his fork, pointing the poor girl, nodding frantically.

“Riddle-kun, I think she gets it.” Cater tried to be empathic with the poor girl trying to understand the ropes of this school. Barely on the first day, she got her three fingers broken, what luck. “Nakia-chan, let’s go to the dorm; it would be right on the schedule since we have a free period on Monday for the second and third years.” 

They walked through the main street to go towards the Hall of Mirrors. They stepped across the Heartsybul’s, landing in a beautiful labyrinth with many roses. Many trees are decorated across the field; some students even painting the white roses red with magic. It was wonderful. Nakia winced a little when she felt the negativity magic around the place. 

Her eyes frantically searched for the source before falling on warning ribbons. Cater came into her sight, asking if she was alright. 

“Nakia-chan?” Cater tested. “Is your head pounding from your latest accident?” He asked with a slight worry. She shook it to stabilize, but it didn’t seem to leave. Trey called out the duo being. 

“I’m alright,” Nakia said with a small smile. Cater nodded, walking towards the dorm. “Cater?”

“Yes, Nakia-chan?” He said, looking off his phone screen, he was visibly looking at that app.

“What happened here?” Her head was motioning the garden being slowly built back by a few students. 

“A small mishap happened a few weeks ago.” Trey cut in, walking in front of them. “We decided to revisit the design a bit, for better entertainment, for a better view too.” He chuckled, his head turned back facing forward. Nakia already knew the cause from Crowley’s briefing the same day when they spoke furthermore in his office. 

“Dunstan-san, I officially welcome you in the dorm of Heartsybul, based on the severity of the Queen of Hearts,” Riddle said, opening the lounge room for them. He pulled a chair for her to sit. Trey had already gone to take the sweets while Cater was on duty to bring the tea.

Nakia took place in front of Riddle, who was studying slightly her figure. “I must say, your etiquette is good, no, even perfect. I can guess it's from the knight duties too?” The cater set the teacups on the table with the teapot. Riddle thanked Cater while pouring some into Nakia’s cup. 

“Yes and no.” Nakia took her cup, putting a cube or two in the warm drink, making sure not to spill any. “We have the basic etiquette to open doors, how to sit and all, but to the top, not really. Not like staying straight with the rule kind of class.” She giggled. “It came with time and experience with the people I dealt with.” She hummed when she took a sip. 

“May I ask why?” Riddle questioned with a small hint of interest. 

“Let’s just say being tutored by the country princesses at an early age gave them a small back problem. Especially in my early pre-teen, I was a little...problem maker.” Riddle choked on his tea, trying to process the information. 

“Up until I saw my mom again.” 

“Isn’t it a good thing to see your mother?” He spoke of experience, knowing he was more of a bigger problem in strict rules while cleaning his mouth.

“It was shocking.” Nakia looked away. She brightens up once more with a complement of tea. Riddle went on with it, happy of her compliment, yet still curious about the story. 

_ What kind of child was she _ ? He blinked two times. A few sweets in and a brief talk of the dorm policies, Nakia requested a short visit to the garden.

“Of course,” Riddle said with a smile. He got up, calling the two first years walking by. “Trappola, Spade. Come here, please.” He called the terracotta, and the navy haired duo turned to look at their dorm leader. 

“What is it, dorm leader?” Ace asked. 

Both first years were back from their last period. Both froze; they saw the girl sitting on the chair across Riddle. They recognized her on the spot. “You are-” 

“Yup.” She chuckled. “Nice to see you two again.” 

Deuce took Ace aside. “We recognized both of us!” He panicked. 

“Of course, we did tell her where the Scarabia tent was duh.” Ace stated, rolling his eyes. “How can we be of help?” 

“Dunstan-san would like to visit the garden of roses, any of you two available?” Riddle asked. 

“I do have homework to- URK!” Deuce got his breath cut by Ace’s elbow. 

“Yes, we are.” He forced a smile, looking at Deuce with a low tone. “I’d rather do that than my homework right now. Are you in or not?” He asked with a deadly sweet voice, in a whisper.

Deuce simply gulped and forfeited. “Good then. Dunstan-san. I will see you around the campus. Have a good visit. If you will excuse me.” He excused himself before leaving with Trey, nodding his presence off. 

“All right.” Nakia got up, pushing the chair off. “Let’s go.” She smiled. Ace and Deuce complied only to see her cast on her arm. Seriously, how did she get hurt so early…

* * *

  
  


The exploration of the maze went smoothly. The roses were beautiful into the trees, the hays were perfectly trimmed, the work of a true artist - being the dorm students. Nakia takes a stop making the duo stop as well. 

“I won’t go ten ways to ask about this.” She paused, confusion on the boys’ faces. “What kind of mishap happened to cause such a big magic leak here?” She pointed to the garden is taken care of by the student. “I’m not here to judge, but it must have been big. I’ve seen bigger treats in my life, to be honest.” 

Deuce seems reluctant to talk, looking at his friend on the side. Nakia looked at Ace, who just became stiff at the gaze. He sighed, shaking his head, scratching the back of it. 

“We can’t.” Ace briefly said. “We can’t say anything about it. That’s the headmaster’s order.”

_ Oh? _

“Overblot.”  _ Hm? _

“Deuce!” Ace warned. 

“Someone went nuts with that magic leak you are talking about. From what we know, it’s called overblot.” 

“Dude! We are not supposed to-” 

“We never had to specify WHO, Ace.” Deuce countered. “The headmaster told us what an overblot was, and it’s fairly dangerous and…” 

_...is the cause of the extreme usage of magic in Twisted Wonderland. Any sorcerer or mage must have a magic stone to suppress the magical energy from being too high. If they ever get an overblot, they will be irrationally thinking and do bad things. It will put them in danger. _

“...even cause the death.” Deuce finished.

The headmaster had been strict about the information gathering alright, but he never told her about the first cause. Was she supposed to guess on her own? She frowned at the thought. 

“They practically go on a magic rampage with negativity accumulated inside their hearts,” Nakia said. 

“Pretty much,” Deuce concluded. 

“Like a vase filled to the brim, but instead of overflow, it breaks with the pressure as well. Interesting. Laneila, Cande, Shaderot, you heard that.” 

‘Yup.’ The small female demon replied. 

“Are you talking to your spirits out of context?” Ace asked, surprised. “Are they here, like now? Like ghosts?” 

“They are not visible on the human eye, only to mine.” She chuckled. The demelvian noticed a puddle of dried ink on the grass. She approached, kneeling beside it, close to touch it, only to have her head pound again. That ink was highly negative energy, she got used to darkness before, but this was too much. 

‘ _ Nakia, don’t move. _ ’ Laneila warned. The A-Deuce duo approached her, getting her up quickly on her feet. She still had that headache. Her vision cleared up. She had to fake...She put her right hand on her mouth, pretending a throw-up. 

“Whoa! Don’t puke on us!” Ace said, retreating. 

“I think sweets are not for headaches… I will apologize to your dorm leader.” She smiled, sick a bit of this idiocy. 

The first years warned Cater about Nakia’s condition, the red-head nodded, feeling sorry for the young woman. “I will inform Riddle asap, Deuce-chan. Thank you for the backup. Nakia-chan, take care, please.” 

Nakia was having a hard time not letting go of the two boys. Riddle instructed them to get her back safely to the Ramshackle dorm. Her little act paid off after all. 

Heartsybul Dorm was only the beginning of Nakia’s investigation. If the magic leak was that strong to get a student to go overboard, it might just be worse in the future. Her next step would be to better look at the ink if it were still present on the grass. It would be a night out for sure—an interesting one.

Headmaster Crowley would get the first report the next day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) Nakia is referring to Warren Rocko from the Fairy Tail guild of the series Fairy Tail of Hiro Mashima. Demelvia is set in the same region as Fiore more into the North West of the map.


	3. Chapter 2 : Captive memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next day doesn't go according to plan. Nakia needs to have more trails to get face to face with the problem the Headmaster has entrusted her. Jamil is sure she might be someone able to hurt Kalim, does he do the right move? Leona's way to get her on his side is harder than he thinks.

Chapter 2 - Captive Memory __

_ After the Heartslybul visit... _

_ "We will go now." Deuce waved. "Take care and rest well, Dunstan-senpai." Ace waved out, closing the door.  _

_ "If ya need a comfort pillow, the Great Grim would be available to sleep-" Grim started only to be silenced by the prefect.  _

_ "It's not too late. We can still have dinner and then discuss more in the living room." The student smiled, taking the little grey monster cat with him. "Stew sounds good?"  _

_ "Yeah, good for me." Nakia smiled. They left Nakia alone in the lobby. The mage sighed, putting her hand over her eyes. The problem would be trickier than she thought. Her broken fingers didn't come into the plan of investigation. She had to find a way to run around the obstacle.  _

_ The good old trick. Jeez, how had Nakia forgotten about the bathroom?  _

_ "Prefect-" Nakia popped her head into the small kitchen.  _

_ "You can call me Yuu." They interrupted them.  _

_ "Well then, Yuu, Grim, I'm going to take a bath. It will help a bit. Don't be surprised if you see an elf walking around. I may release my spirits in the evening."  _

_ "Wait, what?" Grim looked at Nakia in total surprise. "You mean the guy we saw on the final round is one of them!?"  _

_ "Gee, Grim." Yuu sighed. "She is a mage using spirits, the Headmaster explained it to you during the matches. Unless your memory is playing tricks on you."  _

_ "I'm not feeling threatened!" Grim said with a prideful tone. Nakia and Yuu looked at each other. "Funhya!"  _

_ Nakia giggled. Maybe… it was for the better to stay in. Her eyes drifted towards the living room windows. She went to the main bathroom to run the bath. It took a matter of time for her to soak in the warmth of the translucent element. She relaxed, the giggling of her bracelet on her wrist knocking on the porcelain edge of the bathtub.  _

_ She recollected all the memories of her first day, only to drift into slumber in the steaming room.  _

* * *

Nakia opened her eyes with a start. It was her dorm room. She moved a bit, feeling a hand above her covered form. Seeing Laneila resting on her side, she followed the arm, still awake, his gaze into a frown. 

"You fainted." He said. 

"You broke out of the stone… How?" Nakia still rested on her back. 

"I am still your last resort call." He poked her nose. "We are linked through the heart but also here." He put his hand on her forehead. 

"What time is it?" Nakia asked, looking at the small window. 

"Late. Little Yuzuru put the food for you on the counter. If you want to eat, I can go warm it for you." Nakia hummed at the response. Laneila shuffled off the bed, walked towards the door, closing it behind him. 

Nakia sat up on the mattress with the blanket against her chest. She felt drained. Another reason she should have listened to the Headmaster, he had pointed out the good and downsides of the bracelet, the energy drainage was a part of it. She felt almost empty. Her arm ached from the sleeping position, and her fingers were still sensitive. She had to get this healed quickly in the morning. 

Laneila came back with the warm bowl and a glass of water in hand. He placed it on the bedside table, checking if everything was alright with her body in general. 

"Eat and go back to bed. Tomorrow, we will have a big day." 

"You are the one to talk. You hate waking up early." He pinched her nose, making her whine. "Lazy Bum!" 

"Nakia." He warned. "Eat." She complied with a sigh. She took a bite. 

"By the way, I know you had eyes on that black-haired male too." Nakia spat her stew across the bed. 

  
  
  


The morning rays poked through the curtain of Nakia's bedroom. Touched by the warmth of sunlight rays, she slowly awoke. She sat up in her bed again, her bed hair sticking in all directions. Laneila, on the other hand, was still sleeping comfortably under the blankets. Tiny knocks on her door caught her attention and also making the elf's ears twitch a little. Laneila woke up right after she started to get dressed and to put her hair in place. 

"Oi, Nakia!" Grim's voice called slightly muffled the other side of the door. "If ya don't hurry, I will eat your breakfast- FNYAH! WHO ARE YOU?! Wait a minute…!" Grim lifted from the ground when Laneila caught him by the neck. 

"You should know better, vermin," Laneila called with a sinister smile. "You interrupted our morning routine. Nyouch!" 

"Laneila. Put Grim down and go back in the stone. You had enough of my energy, and I stole enough from all of you, come on." Laneila pouted at her scolding and dusted back into the onyx stone, giggling against her hip. "Grim, I'm sorry." 

"You'd better be!" He growled. 

"Let's go eat breakfast. I owe you both an apology with my stunt last evening." Nakia apologized sincerely, following the small demon down the corridor. 

"Good morning Yuu." The prefect was in the living room with a few pastries on the table and some tea ready. "I want to apologize for last evening. Let me treat you two for the lunch break." 

"You don't need to, really," Yuu said, waving it off. "Accident happens." 

"Three times in the same day, ya mean." Grim shoved a piece of croissant in his mouth. 

"Oh." Yuu looked away, a bit embarrassed. 

"I mean it," Nakia said, pouring some tea in her thermos. "I will be going ahead of you. I have to meet the Headmaster for my integration review." 

"You think she could buy some more food-  **_FNYAGH_ ** !" Yuu waved to Nakia, leaving with her small bag on her shoulder. Their eyes fell on the small monster giving him a knowing look. 

* * *

Taking an early walk towards the school, Nakia took a moment to observe the Great Seven statues on the main street. Carved into the old marble, it seems standing there guarding and alluring their presence each time a student would pass in front of them. The Demelvian questioned the potential presence of magic within the marble itself. She arrived in the corridor leading to the cafeteria. 

A small gurgle came from her stomach. She couldn't bear the thought of losing her first early hour to speak with the Headmaster. She needed to have her hand fixed too. 

"What a pain…" She whined. "I should have just asked Cande to heal me." 

She sought the infirmary where small fairies were cleaning the beds, dusting the shelves. She remembered the instructions of Primerose to come early in the morning for another check-up. The small creature took a look at the finger with a small smile. She flew over the cabinet, grabbing a small vial and dropping it into Nakia's available hand. 

"Oh, I see." She replied. She took the capsule off and down it in one go. The taste was horrible, disgusting even. She shook her head to assimilate the taste to her stomach. A small warmth passed through her body throughout her broken fingers. It put the bones together with a firm grip, only to glow at the end of the process. 

The small fairy proceeded to get the bandages off her hand to leave her to take a look. Nakia looked at her hand in awe. She knew potions had a level of quality, but this one was the best compared to healing magic. 

The small ringing of the fairy caught her attention. "Thank you very much." Nakia nodded her head, and the little one did the same, floating aside to let her leave. "Oh, I almost forgot." She fished a small object from her pouch, giving it to the fairy. She was happy with the gift and flew to show her sisters. 

An offering as a thank you was very common through fairies. Nakia had learnt from the best after all. She left the infirmary where the corridors were already bustling with many students. She felt her small device buzz in her pocket. She looked at the incoming message from the Headmaster's itself. 

"Gotta go then." She told herself.

Approaching the connecting hallway towards the Headmaster's office, the mage caught the latter standing outside visibly scolding a male student and small group by his side. 

"Mr. Shadzad, you should be aware of this morning's meeting with your headteacher. You can't just go around and ignore the rules." Crowley said. 

"The school rules can be broken, teach'. It's not mostly everyone who follows them anyway. We do what we like, whenever it's time. I don't have any classes this morning; why bother." He shrugged it off. "Sorry, but I have things to be done." He waved at his click to follow him. Nakia approached the Headmaster from behind. 

"Laneila." She whispered. The elf's stone glowed softly, a few sparkles on the puddle left on the floor by the cleaning fairies. The puddle became a flock of ice. Stepping on it, the short-haired male lost his foot to land on his back. 

"What the!?" He yelled, searching for the culprit. Many students stood there in silence before one couldn't hold it anymore and laughed out loud. The other student party also joined the batter, making the male's face go red. Nakia wasn't sure if it was of anger or embarrassment. 

"Good morning, Mr. Crowley." She said casually, giving a spike of fright to the Headmaster. He composed his form by clearing his throat. 

"Good morning, Mrs. Dunstan. Please follow me." He opened his door, looking one last time at the young man struggling to get up. He landed on his ass again, slapping the hand of a member of his click away. He noticed Nakia's gaze at him; he yelled at her only to be cut off by the doors closing. 

"I will be brief with you. You can tell me anything that caught your eye." Crowley said, sitting at his desk. "Also, I heard about your little incident. I hope you are doing alright." 

"Fingers are fine." She tested her fingers to prove her point. "Riddle invited me to their dorm yesterday afternoon." Crowley's interest picked up. 

"Go on." 

"Just passing by the labyrinth, the energy is still present," Nakia confirmed. "Trey told me about the small incident which you told me about. I saw a small puddle of dried ink on the grass, and the energy from it was dark and negative. I'm used to the negative energy of this calibre but never in my whole training as a knight. Either as a member of a family who uses dark magic for centuries." 

Crowley's fingers were on his chin, thinking. He had his doubts confirmed after what she said. He remained calm. "Is there a possibility another casualty of the sort can happen?" Nakia asked. "If you have personally witnessed this one, wouldn't it be spreading like a virus?" 

"Virus is a large word, Mrs. Dunstan," Crowley said. "Remember what I told you, an individual's energy is a part of his magic flow as a whole. Thinking irrationally or even behaving without thinking is one of the few points to cause someone to blot." 

"What can I do to help? We don't have any evidence." Nakia replied with a frown. "I need proof or even a way to track the source." She pressured. "I can't just sit around and casually wait for something to blot out of the blue." 

"This is why you have been admitted for the semester, Mrs. Dunstan," Crowley replied. "I was worried for the first blot incident then, after what you've gathered, I'd rather keep you under my wing. If anything happens, you may assist first hand anytime." 

It struck Nakia's mind. "Who was present during the overblot of that student?"

Crowley's face grew in sweat by the sudden question. Nakia caught him red-handed. "You were there, sir. If I can have at least a hint, it could probably even give me a better way to investigate." She frowned. 

"Are you intending to question the students who were there?! It would be nonsense." Crowley didn't like her questioning. 

"Then, I wonder  **_WHO_ ** referred us to  _ you _ ." She crossed her arms. He caught her drift. He sighed, putting his head in his clawed hands. 

"You win." He replied with a defeated tone. "Mr. Rosehearts was the one who blotted." 

Proud of her win, she looked at the Headmaster with a determined look. "Sir." Crowley looked up. "I intend to complete my job only if I get permission from you. Princess Hjordis promised you results, and that's what I am going to deliver." 

The crow man sighed. "You are right. As for the other students present that day. It was mostly Heartsybul dorm and the Ramshackle dorm leader and Grim too. Mr. Spade and Mr. Trappola were also there." 

_ Ace and Deuce. The first years. _

"Be careful when you will be asking for anything from them." 

_ Well, too late, Deuce did spill a part of it. As the full story, though…  _

**Knock knock.**

"Excuse me, headmaster." A polite masculine voice came from the other side, slightly opening the door. "May we come in?" 

"Oh, I forgot about the meeting." Crowley put his fist into the hand. "Mrs. Dunstan, it will be all for your resume of yesterday's class. You may run to class." 

A tall blonde with a purple dye opened the doors fully to let her leave. Crowley shoved Nakia gently outside the office. Turning around, he also threw a grimoire into Nakia's hands. "You will find everything you need inside to know about our little story." He winked. "Boys, please come in." 

The dorm leaders go inside after another while Nakia observed them. The blond was already inside the moment she had left earlier. She had to make another mental note how much they were all equivalently good looking from the outside. Someone bumped into her, drawing her out of her train of thoughts. Those emerald eyes, she irked at sight. Leona smirked before closing the door right into her face, making her hair blow away. She used her hand to place them again. 

"Nakia-san?" Nakia turned around to see Jamil standing in front of her. "Good morning." 

"Good morning Jamil." She finished placing the final strand of hair back to her ear. "You come around often?" She asked casually, leaving him silent. 

"I am the vice dorm of Scarabia; I had to get my dorm leader here on time," Jamil said with a hand in the air and the other one on his hip. "You had a meeting with the headmaster too, I see." 

"Yeah, mostly a last rundown of my first day and get this grimoire too." She remembered something. "Are you alright?" She asked. 

"I am. What's the occasion?" Jamil asked, a bit taken aback. 

"About yesterday, you nearly got a flying disk in the face." She sighed, shaking her head. "My reflexes kicked in when I used my wind magic to deflect it. I'm sorry." 

"You don't have to apologize." He waves it off. "You did what you had to. It was really brave coming from a knight like you." She sighed in relief. 

"I'm glad." She put a hand on her chest. "Who was the other guy next to you?" 

"Kalim. Scarabia's dorm leader." Nakia nodded. His face grew blank at the mention of the name. "We should be going. We have a history lesson in the second period." 

  
  


Fifteen minutes later... 

**_Lecture hall - History_ **

The 2-C classroom was chatting with each other. Nakia had been sitting by the end of the door with the grimoire opened in front of her. A shadow loomed over her, indicating someone was present. 

"You." Nakia looked up to see the same short-haired from this morning. "That's my place, move." Her face grew angry. She only made him more agitated when she didn't reply. "A commoner like you-" 

"I will stop you right there." Nakia didn't look at him. "Yes, I am a commoner. I'm average. Anything else to add?" Her angry expression made him stiff. "You are rich; I get the picture. I serve a royal family, so all your little tantrums, keep it for yourself." 

"How dare you-!?" He went to punch but was stopped by a hand grabbing his wrist. 

"Oi, Shahzad. It's unmanly to hit a girl. Now move it." Zubé said with a frown letting go of the baby prince. "Dunstan, keep your mouth shut if you don't want to get in trouble." 

"I can take care of myself just fine." She replied with an angry tone. Zubé smirked. 

"Then, you can't stand my dorm leader, right." It was the last straw. She got up only to sit back when the history teacher, Mozus Trein, come in with his fat cat in arms. 

"Sit; we will begin the lesson." He placed the black tuxedo cat on his desk. "Routside, Shahzad, to your places. Class open your books on the 'Great Seven' Legacy. We will be reviewing their route towards their position to represent the Night Raven College. Take notes." 

Nakia looked at the two boys retreating to their seats. The noise of books opening, pages flipping made sure the students were on set. Trein started to talk about the first dorm of the college. Nakia wasn't focusing on Trein's class because of the eyes drilling the back of her head. 

'Geez, keep your eyes off.' She sighed her hand on her forehead. The energy in the room was already boring. Her eyes scanned around to see some dozing off at the length of the teacher's tone. She understood their focus not being top-notch but could at least make an effort. 

"Mrs. Dunstan, will you please read the next paragraph," Trein called out, turning around with the cat in his arms. "Below the laws of the Queen of Hearts." 

Nakia stood up, all the eyes on her. She took the book in her hands, starting to read out loud. 

"The Queen of Hearts ruled her kingdom like an iron fist." She started. "Their judgement upon her people was considered the fairest and quickest to go over problems by putting down the others who didn't listen to her orders." She continued. "Heartslybul was founded on the severity of the Queen of Hearts to make their subjects follow the rules at the top priority. No matter how odd it may be, they have to comply." 

"Good. You may sit." Trein said. "Next on, we go with the Savannaclaw dorm." 

The listing of the dorms went on the rest of the first half of the class. Trein called out each student by their last name to read a part of the dorms' anthology. Arriving by the fourth dorm's text, Trein called out Nakia, having her hand raised. 

"Yes? You may speak." He said. 

"I've seen the dorm leaders walking around with staves around the campus on the day of my entrance exam, does the magic stone related to the same power source as their magical pen?" She asked. 

It was an intriguing question. Even the teacher wasn't able to answer this question on his own. Another student raised his hand. 

"Ashengrotto." 

"I may answer this question, Mr. Trein. I am a dorm leader, after all." Azul smiled softly towards the Demelvian watching him. "Dunstan-san, may I?" 

"Go on." She nodded. 

"Every dorm leader receives staff from their predecessor. We simply take on our magical stone to transfer it. We get a slight power boost from the tool, but we keep our main magic ability in check." He placed his glasses. 

"Ashengrotto, Dunstan, you may sit," Trein said. "Thank you for the enlightenment. We may proceed onto the next subject." 

Nakia felt Azul's eyes on her. He smiled towards her before resuming his reading to follow the teacher along with his instructions. The moment she looked away, he stared at her again a minute before smirking. 

The teacher called the class off by the end of the period. It was a free period for homework or reading until the next class started. Nakia brought out the grimoire Crowley had given her. Opening it, she saw all the ancient writing, easily known as Old Folklore, Crowley saw right in her to take the information in. It would be a long time to read. She groaned with her hand on her forehead. 

"Small things called for the greater measure." She opened her bag to take out a small pair of glasses with a wing design. A magic tool well known for reading purposes for mages. Their glasses glowed softly with a pair of wings on each side coming a tainted blue colour, fashionable with a pair of wings on each side. Nakia put them on before sighing and open the book midway. A small spell circle appeared, making all the information defiling at a 32x speed. 

It took a few minutes to drink all the information, making a slight headache pounding Nakia's head. She stopped the reading taking off the Gale-Force Reading glasses (1), pinching her nose bridge. The grimoire surely told a lot more on the magic stone perspective. She rested her hand on her forehead to take a breath. Her eyes were only visibly deep in thought. 

'If magical stones are meant to keep the magic in check of a sorcerer, how much stress and negativity can push them to go overboard…' She thought to herself. 'They still have to suppress so much energy and keep their cool.' She closed her eyes to focus. She felt a presence in front of her. 

"Dunstan-san," Azul asked. "Are you feeling alright?" He asked with a genuinely concerned tone. "I've seen you read this book with the glasses."

Oh dang.

"A magical tool from home." She simply replied. "I don't think they make these here in Twisted Wonderland." She shouldn't have taken the third grade for higher efficacy. 

"I see," Azul replied. "If you would like to visit our café, in Octavinelle." He took out a card. "We do everything from food to tea. Even if you need a potion, we can manage you something, whatever the budget you have." 

"Thank you?" Nakia looked at him, a bit reluctant to take his card. She took it anyway. Azul's eye smiled towards her. 

"Excuse me then." Nakia looked at him to leave were two tall individuals were standing at the door. He gave the nod towards the mage and left with the two others. One of the two twins snickered with a burst of high-pitch laughter, making Nakia cringe. 

Oh god… 

"Oof - hey!" Nakia looked at Zubé, who bumped into her again on purpose. "Really?" She asked. The lion-man looked at her with a frown, and his tail wiped her face. She had enough. She pulled on his tail, earning a growl from him. Camilla was ready to intervene. "Don't growl at me for something you caused." She pointed out. 

"So what?" Zubé said. "You have been here for at least a day. You should have learned enough how we proceed." 

"What the heck?!" Nakia got up, Camilla held her by the arm. 

"Oh, the winner is a loser then?" Zubé smirked. He was pushing her buttons. "Where's the sarcasm you had yesterday?" 

"You stole it," Nakia replied, catching him off guard. "What now? You got your fur rubbed the wrong way?" She added with more intent. He stepped back. His tail was swaying side to side. She was pissing him off. His mouth bared his fangs. 

"You've got guts, Dunstan." Zubé chuckled. "Not only you are provoking a Savannaclaw student - me, a lion - and dare to push it further. You are interesting; too bad someone already has his eyes on you." 

His eyes on her? A memory flashed in her head, Leona watching her fight in the arena. Another came out also with Leona caging her against the wall. 

"Routside, just go." Camilla put herself between them. "unless you want me to read your horoscope and you get a weekly bad luck." The Lion only bared his teeth against the pinkette. "Shoo, be gone. Crewel is waiting." She motioned her hand towards the door. Once gone from their sight, Camilla turned towards Nakia with an angry expression. 

"Zubé was right yesterday, though. You should keep your guard up." Camilla sat on the desk, closing the grimoire and pushing it towards the demelvian. "NRC is not that bad, but there's still danger around." She smiled in compassion. "You should get your headache fixed up." 

"I will go with her." Jamil stepped next to her. "It will be wiser for someone to be with her in case if Zubé comes back full force." Nakia looked at Jamil. "Meanwhile, take a break. Also, just don't play tricks on others. You and your reading are really bad luck anyway." 

Camilla gasped dramatically. "You never let yourself read to me!" 

"Because I don't believe in this crap." He said bluntly. "Nakia-san, let's go before the next class starts." He left first as Nakia quickly put the grimoire into her bag. She quickly followed the Scarabia student towards the infirmary. 

  
  


Camilla had given a thumbs up when she left the classroom. Jamil was worthy of trust. After all, he was the Scarabia vice dorm leader. He opened the infirmary door calling out a fairy for a patient. No one was present; they were probably busy gathering medicine outside the school. He lets her in; first, she puts her bag on the nearest bed for a break. Her eyes widen when she hears the door locking behind her. Jamil casually walks to the cabinet like he knew what he needed. 

"You seem to know a lot about medicine," Nakia commented. 

"As a Vice dorm leader, I need to rely on anything we have. Everything can happen, for instance, poisoning." He shrugged. "It's common to know about remedies in the Land of Hot Sands." He approached her, giving her a small bottle. She took it from his hand, and she read the etiquette in old Latin; they were ingredients she knew about headaches. He wasn't lying. Also, fairies made these remedies. 

'Nakia. Be careful.' Laneila warned her. 

"Why are you helping me?" Nakia asked with a curious tone. 

"It's the least I can do after what you did yesterday." Nakia looked at his eyes. "You saved me from being disfigured; I'm grateful for that." He smirked. "But, a small reward can't be provided this easily without a properly owed favour, don't you agree?" 

"What do you mean-" 

" **Have you ever wondered what's like to be somebody else? Give me an example of how strong you are, Nakia-san. As your master, I order you to attack a student.** **_SNAKE WHISPER._ ** " A small grunt came from Nakia's mouth when she felt the pressure onto your head. "I'm pretty sure your headache will be soon gone after this little experiment." 

"Speak for yourself," Nakia replied. 

"What?" Jamil looked at her as she walked to the counter to put the small bottle down. Her eyes looked up at him. They were bright gold. "I'm sorry, Jamil, but I'm immune to this type of magic. You better explain yourself right now." She walked towards him. 

He stepped back as reflex until his back was against the locked door. "

'My snake whisper didn't work. How?' He saw her eyes coming back to normal. 

"Let me tell you what's like to be an experiment." Her face turned angry as she poked his chest. "You will never know what's like to be a tool to revive the dead." She frowned as she clenched her teeth. She showed the bracelet. "One wrong move, and you will face one of them in person." The bracelet jingled when she stepped back away from him. 

"You tried to put a show on me with your good intention." She took the bottle once again. She piled away from the sticker. "This is not for headaches; this is for a cardiac arrest." 

Jamil, shocked from his plan failure, looked at her directly in the eyes. "That was rude coming from a guy like you." She threw the vial on the ground with a smash. 

"Nakia, wait-" Nakia turned around with a more aggressive expression. 

"No thanks." She pushed him off her route, taking her bag along. "You should find a better excuse next time we speak. Some truth." She unlocked the door and slammed open it in front of the hyena boy about to open it. He was sweating bullets from what he just heard. 

His ears flat on his biscuit brown hair. He nervously laughed as he stepped on the side to leave some space for Nakia to pass. Jamil remained silent while looking at the female retreating with the hyena going after her calling out her name. The Scarabian vice dorm leader sat on the nearest bed; he was asking himself if his vision played tricks when Nakia didn't act on his accord, only to see three spiritual figures by her side. 

She was dangerous as much as he was. 

"Nakia-san! Wait, Nakia-san!" Ruggie called her out. He put his hand on her shoulder, making a stop. He froze when he saw her aura being ominous. It disappears the moment she lets out a sigh of relief, falling to the ground. Her body is slightly shaking from the previous confrontation. 

"Are you alright?" Ruggie asked, crouching next to her on his two legs with his hands on them. "Weren't you with Jamil earlier?" The name made Nakia turn towards the hyena, who simply blinked. "Now that I have your full attention, shi shi shi. Can I ask you something?" 

"Depends what it is?" She gladly took his hand. He hoisted her up on her two legs.

"How did you do this break last minute break with the broom yesterday?" He asked with a sparkle in his eyes. "We never saw someone pulling a trick like that." 

"Shaderot." 

"Ah?" Ruggie blinked twice again, looking at her. 

"My elemental spirit did the gust of wind when she made a break to deflect the magift disk in the air." Ruggie nodded, understanding.

"You gotta teach us!" 

"Nope!" Nakia directly declined. "I'm not even accustomed to this school yet, and you want me to tutor others already? I've never used a broom in my life! My crotch will suffer!" 

Ruggie blushed at the term. He scratched the back of his neck. He snickered as he stuffed his other hand in his baggy pants. 

"Sorry, we are searching for some advice to play our sport more efficiently." He said with a genuine smile. "It was a first for all of us." 

"It was my first as well." Nakia giggled softly. 

"We have our interdorm tournament within a month; that's why I was trying to get a trick or two off your sleeve to make some adjustments. My dorm leader has had an eye on you since your exam." 

_ Again?  _

Nakia frowned. She grabbed a paper and pencil from her bag. Zubé had already mentioned the other details; she didn't need some idiotic beastman on her ass. She wrote quickly on the piece of paper. Ruggie observed so. She handed him the piece. 

"Give this to your dorm leader. If they are who I think they are, they better stay away with this warning." She smiled. "Also, they need to keep their nose off my school business." 

"If you want to hang out with us, feel free." Nakia wanted to protest, but he sprinted towards another student. Nakia froze. 

"Leona-san!" Ruggie happily called. He turned around to point where the woman stood. Nakia was already walking away. She power-walked down the corridor turning the corner with a sharp turn. 

"Not bad, Ruggie," Leona smirked. "Your talent to get along with girls is getting good." Ruggie gave him the piece of paper. "Oh? Is it a love confession already- what the fuck?" 

_ "Give yourself peace of mind, lion face. I may be interesting in your eyes, but you will have to do better to get what you want. I am not an easy target to acquire. Good day, fuck off." _

A small chibi Nakia pulling her tongue at the end of the message made the beastman growl with a smile. He looked at Ruggie. The hyena looked at him with wide eyes. 

"She wants to play hard to get, huh?" He told himself while crippling the paper and stuffing it into his pants pocket. "She doesn't know what she is getting herself into. Ruggie." 

"Yeah, what is it?" Ruggie walked casually behind him with his hands behind his head. 

"You will play the messenger for me. Invite her to lunch with us this afternoon." The hyena blinked, halting his walking. 

"Are you sure about this? Didn't you read she doesn't want to do anything with you?" 

"It's called approaching the prey with a simple,  _ friendly  _ lunch," Leona explained, letting out a yawn. "You have to treat women with delicacy after all. If it doesn't work out, well, we use a small power on them." 

"She could easily beat you." The Lion turned around, snarling at the boy. He stepped back. "Okay, lunch break." He surrendered. 

"I will be in the botanical garden." He waved. 

"What about your history class?!" Ruggie yelled, Leona waved it off. The hyena stood there speechless, alone in the corridor. 

  
  


_ Afternoon - Potion class _

"Alright, pups, you will be paired in teams of two." A young man in his thirties spoke around the class. His appearance was fresh, stylish and serious. The big fur coat contrasted with his slim physic. He waved his magical crop in the air, the chalk writing on the blackboard. 

"You will be working on a dye colour potion. Go search the right plants, and you may proceed. You have the afternoon to do it." Crewel said with a serious tone. "Remember, this will be a grade testing your teamwork and judgement of the plants' usage." 

Nakia was looking through the herb book to have a quick check of their things available. With her lab coat and the protective goggles on her head, she recognized at least half of the plants they already had on the school ground. A groan caught her attention. She looked up and saw her lab partner. 

"Well, isn't it the sarcasm king?" Nakia joked. Zubé frowned at let out a sigh, scratching the back of his head. 

"Let's get it over with," Zubé said. He let out another sigh while taking the book from her hands. "Hair dye is not as complicated as is, right?" He asked with an uninterested tone. "It's not like you knew about herbs because of your chivalry thing." 

"Actually, yes." Zubé looked at her with a confused expression. "If you are alone on a mission, you have to find a way to cure yourself without magic or potion along with you." She replied. 

She took back the book from his hands. "I know you are coming from a dryer environment; plants are different from countries." 

"How-?" 

"You are not alone in this world considered as 'beastman,'" Nakia said, turning on the right page. "There." 

"Indigo? You surely are courageous with this one." Zubé said flatly. "Most of the plants we will need are in the Botanical Garden." 

"Let's go then." Zubé seems reluctant to go along. Nakia sighed and pulled him along with a good tug. 

"Alright, alright!!" Jamil observed their dynamic from afar. He wished he could have at least a minute to speak but waiting was for the better. He winced when Camilla made a small explosion with her vial. He narrowed his eyes on her; she hid behind their small cauldron. 

The automatic doors opened for a few students who decided to do the same as them. They walked down the brick sidewalk to the plant place. Nakia cracked her fingers and rolled her lab coat sleeves. Zubé's ears twitched at the noise. They flatten on the spot. 

"Are you okay?" Nakia asked. He nodded. "Can you tell me where we can find the 'Indigofera'?" She questioned him with a small piece of paper. Zubé brought his finger up. 

"Alright, let's go then." He followed behind her, his demeanour getting tenser. He asked her to stop where she was. When he indicated they were in the right section, they stepped over some bushes and saw the small pluck of plants in the gardening basket. Zubé remained on the sidewalk, his hands in his pockets. Nakia plucked a few branches into their small bucket. 

"Seriously, you should calm down," Nakia said. Zubé looked at her. "Your body language is tense, so is your energy. Is there something you are afraid of to grab you or something?" Her brown eyes met his teal ones. He narrowed, so she was right. 

"That's not your business." Nakia frowned slightly. 

"You are right, and I shouldn't care about my classmate," Nakia said while taking one last branch, snipping it with a pair of scissors. "But as your teammate. I have to." He stepped back. 

"Don't go with all that friendship speech," Zubé warned. 

"I wasn't aiming for that subject." She stopped in front of him. "You need to calm down. If it's the grade you are afraid for, let me handle this. I know a lot more about plants than you think." She shoved the bucket into his chest. "Trust me on that,  **_Zubé_ ** . I am not asking you to become my friend, and I want some cooperation. Lion or not, you are a teammate till the end." 

Zubé looked at the bucket with a doubtful expression. He followed behind her. He indicated the next spot for the second colour for the henna known as  _ Lawsonia inermis.  _ It was on the tropical side of the botanical garden. Zubé, once again, felt tense. Nakia continued to walk on ahead until he called out to stop. 

"Is it here?" Nakia's voice rang. 

"No, we should take another shortcut," Zubé said. "We shouldn't stand here." 

"Why is that?" Nakia asked from afar. "There's no danger here. It's artificial, and there are no animals!" A pair of ears twitched in the meadow on the side behind the bushes. Leona let out a yawn, scratching his hair. 

Nakia felt another person behind her. Leona towered her like the first time they physically met. She quickly stepped back. 

"It's unusual to see the little kitten step on the lion's territory with another lion." He looked at Zubé with a defying look. "I took your little message well, Mrs. Winner. As for you, Routside, I've already warned you not to come here when I nap." 

"Dorm lea-" 

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Nakia stepped in between the two beast-men. "I will stop this accusation you are putting him through." Leona glared at her. 

"Don't get your nose into-" Leona warned, being cut off by her. 

"The Lion's den? I had my fair share of your personality types. He is my lab partner for my class. He was telling me where to go until you came out." 

"You woke me up with your stupid voice." Stupid now, huh? 

"Well, sorry for disturbing your beauty sleep." She replied with the same tone. "We will be going now." Zubé reluctantly followed her. Leona growled at them. "Oh, and Mr. Dorm Leader." The Kingscholar prince's ears perked up. "Fuck you!" He looked in surprise. 

Nakia never felt so proud for once. She had the heart to say what she thought about that kind of attitude. It made her day after Jamil's trick. Speaking of which, she should let him go with that until they spoke again. 

Zubé and Nakia managed to get the last plant and headed back to class. They proceeded with the hair dye potion. They were crushing the leaves with the mortar and pestle. Mixing it with the liquid provided by the teacher and their powder, a small, satisfying explosion occurred. They pour the potion into the beaker. 

"Pups, that's enough. Put your material away; I will be grading your potion per table." Crewel said, proceeding on the examination of each partner, taking a sip of their potion each turn. Nakia took the risk to have her hair become blue-ish black with one small sip. 

"Interesting contrast with your natural auburn hair, Mrs. Dunstan." The hair came back to its normal colour after a minute. "I see your sip goes with the flow of time as well, interesting. Good pups. You get a B." 

Nakia sighed with relief, coughing out a small blue cloud. Zubé tried to keep his chuckle in. 

"You are smiling." Nakia pointed out. 

"Am not." He defended. 

"You did, and it's way better than the sarcasm you used," Nakia said, taking off her goggles. "You are acting like the real you." 

Zubé avoided her gaze with a small blush and excused himself, pushing her off the way slightly, but not enough to make her fall. She took off her coat, folding it over her arm. A hyena head popped into the class, searching for someone. 

"Nakia-san!" He waved. Oh boy, was he chasing her of what? 

"Ruggie… right?" The hyena nodded happily. 

"Are you free for dinner?" 

"Huh, excuse me?" Nakia blinked. "Are you asking me on a date?" She flushed. The hyena frantically waved his hands. 

"No, no! It's not what it looks like! Total friendly dinner! Ya know, we can know each other a little better. Discussing things from home, past and such?" 

He seems genuine with his approach. Past? Nakia's eyes widen, a flash of her child self standing in front of her crying. She looked away. Ruggie looked at her, suddenly worried. 

"But if you can't, it's understandable. Woman respected in my country." Ruggie tried to find a better excuse. Leona would have his head if he didn't manage to pull something. 

"I'm sorry, Ruggie. I appreciate the offer. It will be another time." Nakia nodded and walked around him. It had to stop. She had to find her way to the dorm quickly before her mentality went off.  _ She needed Laneila. _

  
  


Hurrying through the mass of students heading back towards the Hall of Mirrors, Nakia made a quick sprint on the sidewalk. She needed to calm down; it was a first on the second day at school to have a panic attack. Remembering when she fainted in the bathtub last evening brought out more of her worries to light. 

As indicated by Leona, Ruggie had been following his leader's potential prey. Something amidst must have pushed to flee quickly. Did she sense danger? Probably. His cellphone rang as he took the line. 

"Sorry, Leona-san. It seems she had something on her end." Ruggie listened to Leona on the line. "She went back to the prefect's dorm." He looked at the woman getting in. "I will see what I can do so we can proceed with the plan." 

On the other side of the line, Leona hung up his cellphone, closing it where his angry expression mirrored on it. He wasn't pleased. 

His memory of her talking back against him in Zubé's defence only made his mind roll for more. He knew this female had a special magic, and she was from outside of Twisted Wonderland. Nakia had been taking place in his mind because of her attitude and her physic too. She was average like any other woman he had encountered. He wanted to grasp any knowledge possible to find a better way to become more powerful - able to find a way to become king. 

If his plan to overthrow Disamonia next month failed, he didn't know what he would do. Losing against them was one of the things he hated the most. Each year was the same. Ending second wouldn't be an option even if he had to make something bad happen. 

Having an extra student to be a part of his plan could be beneficial on his accord. Leona opened his cellphone again to browse through a menu. 

He still had weeks to proceed on. 

Only to ask Ruggie to play his part.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) Nakia uses the magic tool called the Gale Reading Glasses, type 2, amplifying the reading 32x. Tool used in Fairy Tail manga / anime.


End file.
